Effects of Television and Movie Violence on Child Development

Media Violence
Name
Institution
Media Violence
Introduction
Media violence is an issue of general concern in the society because of the impact on the overall wellness of individuals. There has been an increase in the amount of aggression in the different types of media people consume such as television, newspapers, the internet, and social media platforms. Concern arises from the impact of consumption of excessive violence from media, with a particular interest in the outcomes of the consumption on child development. The effects range from physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and behavioral aspects in consumers, and lead to negative outcomes in individuals over time. Researchers have identified considerable evidence to support the claim that such increased violence hurts child development, especially by influencing the behavior of children. Some theories explain the observations and give supporting evidence for the claims. The paper focuses on the overall impact of increased media violence on child development.
Effects of Television and Movie Violence on Child Development
There are evident effects of violence in adolescents who view television content with violent aspects. In a study to determine the association between the effect of consuming content with relational aggression on television and consequent aggressive behavior, the researchers established a correlation between the consumption and relational aggression in participants in the future (Coyne, 2016). The results also indicated that there exists the potential for long-term influence of developing real-life relational aggression in adolescents who consume television content with increased aggressive content. Viewing violent content in the media causes long-term and short-term effects (Coyne, 2016). In the short-term, the consumption can cause an increase in hostility and anger such that individuals react to situations with aggression. Heavy consumption of aggressive content changes individual thinking about aggression in relations to the extent that people begin to exhibit aggressive behavior. Aggressive media content influences normative beliefs and influences aggressive tendencies over time. Exposure to media violence can cause emotional scars, which can last up to a lifetime.
Evidence of the Effect of Violence on Child Behavior
The observations described are evident in the behavior of adolescents when having conversations over text messages. Several studies have indicated that adolescents who consume television content with aspects of relational aggression have a higher tendency of engagement in social interactions with consequent relational aggression through (Coyne, Ehrenreich, Holmgren & Underwood, 2019). The observations are from the behaviors of teenagers when text messaging with each other. Girls have a higher level of relational aggression when texting one another, and the group with even higher relational aggression is of girls who consume television media with high levels of relational aggression. Note that television content with high levels of relational aggression tends to be programs that are popular among children and adolescents (Coyne, 2016). Over ninety percent of the media content, the study group analyzed contained content with relational aggression. The media portrays the issue as a normative matter and provides justification and rewards for the aggression. The media is responsible for portraying relational aggression as acceptable and normal behavior, which is free from consequences.
Effect of Violence in Video Games on Children
Violence tends to be one of the major components in video games, which constitutes the environment in which children spend a considerable amount of time. There is an association between the consumption of violent media through video games, and poor outcomes in child development (Boxer, Groves & Docherty, 2015). The presence of aggression in video games bec...